Kiesha Preston, 36 / Race and Gender Equality Consultant, Freelance
Kiesha Preston
Born and raised in Roanoke, Kiesha Preston is a domestic violence advocate, gender-based violence consultant and public speaker who works with domestic violence agencies and organizations across the country to ensure that the services being delivered are effective, inclusive and accessible to victims of all races, sexual orientations, religious backgrounds and gender identities. She has worked on projects with organizations such as Women's Law, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Free From and Futures Without Violence, including helping draft a national training curriculum for addressing gender based violence in the workplace; wrote the Virginia Domestic Violence Victims Protection Act signed into law during the General Assembly of 2022; and was invited to speak in the US House of Representatives for a Congressional Briefing on Violence Against Women in 2022. She is the recipient of the 2022 NAACP Impactors of Excellence Award and is the State Legislative Coordinator for Amnesty International USA. “...Poverty is an issue that impacts everyone across the board. When poverty rates are up, crime goes up, homelessness goes up, etcetera, and that's not good for anyone,” she says. “By working to solve issues that impact the most marginalized people in a community, every single person in that community benefits as a result.”
- Attended college at Hollins University and is currently working toward admission into their graduate theater program with an emphasis on Playwriting and performance
- Keynote speaker at the Kering Foundation's "Caring For Women" Gala in New York City, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Co-Chaired by Salma Hayak, Samuel L Jackson, and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan (helped to raise over $3 million dollars to be donated to nonprofit domestic violence agencies)
- Keynote speaker at Roanoke's 4th of July Rally for Reproductive Rights alongside Senator John Edwards
- Serves on the Board of Directors for the Kirk Family YMCA and organized a lot of the racial justice demonstrations in the city that took place in 2020
- Ran for City Council in 2020
- Sings in the Opera Roanoke Chorus
- Serves on the fundraising and event planning committee at Southwest Virginia Ballet
- Former Director of Development at West End Center for Youth (helped to launch a program at the center to address Youth gun violence)
- Single parent of 3 children
- Recipient of the 2020 VASH Community Activism Award
- Recently appointed to the Governing Body of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance (began year one of three-year term November 2022)
From the Nomination: “Kiesha Preston is a domestic violence survivor who saw flaws in the system when she was fleeing abuse and used that knowledge to build a career working to fix those flaws. She is a domestic violence advocate, gender based violence consultant, and public speaker who works with domestic violence agencies and organizations across the country to ensure that the services being delivered to victims are effective, inclusive, and accessible to victims of all races, sexual orientations,religious backgrounds, and gender identities. She works to identify gaps and inequities in services being provided, then helps to develop resources that meet those needs. In addition to her consulting work, Preston is an activist who has advocated for change at the local, state, and federal levels through her lobbying work, and even through drafting legislation herself and changing Virginia state domestic violence laws. … Recently, Kiesha was invited to be the Keynote speaker at the Kering Foundation's "Caring For Women" Gala in New York City, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Co-Chaired by Salma Hayak, Samuel L Jackson, and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. Through her involvement in the event, she helped to raise over 1 million dollars to be donated to nonprofit domestic violence agencies. … What sets Preston apart, aside from her ability to connect with so many people from so many different backgrounds, is her ability to rise from a difficult situation ready to fight to keep other people from experiencing the same. She genuinely cares about people, constantly goes above and beyond to show it, and she does everything that she does while simultaneously single parenting three children.”
What do you love about Roanoke?
Preston: “I love people, I love art, and I love being outdoors; Roanoke is an amazing place for all of the above. I feel like we're really blessed to be surrounded by so much nature and so many beautiful hiking trails, and we're also really blessed to be such a cultural hub. The Taubman Museum, Mill Mountain Theater and the Jefferson Center are gems and I love that I have access to high quality visual and performing arts without having to travel to somewhere like Chicago or New York unless I want to. We have a professional ballet company, a professional Opera, a symphony and so many talented local artists and musicians. I never run out of things to do here.”
How does your passion impact our community?
Preston: “I first got involved in my work for race and gender equality because of life challenges that I personally experienced, and as I became more and more vocal about these things, it became really clear to me that my experiences were not random, one-off things that had just happened to me; they were things that were also happening to other people in overwhelming numbers and race and gender continued to be the common denominators that connected us all. It's a systemic problem, and it impacts everyone; not just women and people of color. For example, women and communities of color statistically experience poverty at greater levels than other demographics but poverty is an issue that impacts everyone across the board. When poverty rates are up, crime goes up, homelessness goes up...etc and that's not good for anyone. By working to solve issues that impact the most marginalized people in a community, every single person in that community benefits as a result. That's the work I'm doing. Locally and across the country. It's focused on very specific groups of people, but everyone reaps the rewards.”